Acadia’s swim coach is looking for a New Minas man to medal at the CIS swim championships in Toronto this weekend.

Luc Boudreau - who will compete for Acadia at the nationals for a fourth year in a row - achieved the national standard in the 200 breaststroke during the first meet of the AUS season last fall, had an outstanding AUS championship, winning the 50, 100 and 200 breast and 200 IM. He also helped Acadia to silver and bronze-medal finishes in relay events.

“(Boudreau) posted lifetime bests in the 50 and 100 breast at the AUS championships without rest or shaving, so he is definitely tracking well in that regard,” said Coach Chris Stone.

He added that Boudreau “is certainly looking like a strong candidate for a podium placing, but we’ll have to wait and see how he races on the day.”

Boudreau said he was "feeling pretty good" entering the national meet.

"I feel I've done the work to be prepared as best I can. I'm hoping for best times and second swims in all three breaststroke events."

Boudreau has qualified in all three breaststroke events, and currently has the top time in the country in the 200 with 2:11.88. He will also be doing the 50 freestyle, which he describes as his "fun event."

Even though this will be his fourth trip to CIS, it never grows stale for him, and is "always one of the most fun meets of the year because you're competing against student-athletes from around the country. And because we're all student-athletes, we can all relate to each other," Boudreau said.

Kristen MacPherson will join Boudreau at the CIS swim championships after qualifying for nationals in the 50-metre backstroke at the AUS championship meet.

MacPherson, 20, qualified with a time of 29.92 in the preliminaries of the 50 back at the AUS meet, shaving 0.67 seconds off her previous personal best, then won the final in a time of 30.12.

The Canning native also won the 100 back, was second in 200 back and fifth in 400 IM at the conference championships in St. John’s, NL.

“Kristen is also swimming well heading into the CIS championships, and we’ll be looking to put her into at least one second swim opportunity during the meet,” Stone said.

Stone added that MacPherson would be swimming the 50, 100 and 200-metre distances in the backstroke, plus one bonus event.

Hayden Adams – like Boudreau and MacPherson, a graduate of the Wolfville Tritons program – had also qualified for nationals, but is unable to compete due to an injury that also forced him to miss the AUS championships.

While Adams’ injured arm “is doing better than it was, he still isn’t pain-free while swimming and therefore is not race-ready,” Stone said.